Rise of the Six
by Chuckles the Cheat
Summary: Several months after the war against Ismeral Nexis, Cosmo finds himself returning to the dragon realms. Accompanied by a mysterious polymorphing fox named Orion, the yellow dragon hopes to find Kali. But is everything really back to normal? -I have a busy schedule so I'll try to update weekly.
1. Cold Front

This is a direct sequel to the story "The Legend of Star". If you have not read that story, please do so. I haven't done any writing in a good while so apologies in advance if it's not my best.

Chapter 1

Cold Front

"Get out of the way runt!"

"I'm sorry!"

"You better be!"

Lately, that had been the only kind of conversation she would have. It wasn't easy living on your own, especially if no one cared whether or not you were alive. The small light blue dragoness never realized how tough the city actually was. Especially during winter. Constant cold wind and weather always left her freezing at nights.

"_It doesn't matter, I'm all alone now._ _Stupid war._"

The toddler rubbed her tan belly, hearing it growl as she did so. She groaned to herself as the smell of fresh meat invaded her nostrils. Looking around, she spotted a small marketing stand on the side of the cobblestone road. Immediately she began to regret coming here.

"_How did I end up in the market square?_"

The market square held many shops and stands, all occupied by their owners and customers. The light blue toddler had been avoiding crowds like this ever since the war ended, but somehow she was in the midst of it.

Pushing through the crowd, she found herself heading toward the central fountain of the market square. The small toddler looked around, seeing if anyone was looking, then dipped both front paws into the water. She quickly pulled her paws back, retrieving some water, which she gladly sipped. Immediate distaste formed on her face as she forced herself to swallow the cold dirty water.

"_Bleh. I hope it snows again soon._"

Her stomach growled once more, much louder than before. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary at least. Until she turned around.

A tall yellow dragon stood in front of her, eyeing her suspiciously. Immediately the small toddler froze in place. What did he want?

"Are you alright?" the larger dragon kindly asked. "Couldn't help but notice you drinking out of the fountain. You know that water is dirty and not healthy for you, right?"

The toddler just played along. A cold breeze made itself known as she made a simple nod, still looking as nervous as before.

The yellow dragon still looked skeptical. "What's your name?"

"_Might as well,_" the toddler thought, hoping it would get the dragon to go away. "Cerulean."

A grin formed on the taller dragon's face. "I like that name. It suits you very well." Cerulean exhaled in relief. "So where are your parents?"

"Oh," Cerulean began. Her voice died down as she quickly came up with something to say. "They're buying some firewood. I'm just waiting for them here like they asked me to."

"You don't say?" the yellow dragon retorted. He sounded a bit relieved at this point, although it was hard to tell with all the ruckus going on around them. "Well that's good to hear. I thought you were lost."

Cerulean forced a smile on her face, "That's okay." She lied, knowing good an well her parents weren't even in the market. Turning back toward the fountain, she peered down toward the bottom of the water to spot several sparkling green gems, the dragon's source of currency.

"Alright then, have a good day now!"

Cerulean just ignored him as he walked away. She rolled her eyes and took another quick sip of the fountain's water.

"_I really hope it snows._"

Forcing herself to swallow once more, she looked back up, making sure no one was paying attention to her. Of course, no one was. No one hardly ever did.

Slipping away from the crowd, Cerulean slowly made her way down the street, hoping that maybe her wish for snow would be granted. She didn't know how much longer she could go on without some clean water for a change.

What she didn't notice was two other dragons that watched her as she left the market square. Both of them sat in front of a restaurant on the other side of the street, eating their lunch and enjoying the cool weather. One of them was a blue dragoness. She had a plate of cooked lamb in front of her, yet her appetite wasn't a hungry one at the moment. Scratching her purple belly, she watched Cerulean quickly leave the market without any kind of supervision whatsoever.

"Did you see that?" the blue dragoness asked toward her friend, stretching her purple wings in the process. She didn't take her sapphire colored eyes off Cerulean until she was out of sight.

"See what darling?" a pure white dragoness replied. She looked around with her bright yellow eyes, but spotted nothing out of the ordinary.

The blue dragoness looked back toward her friend, seeing the white fur on her spine flow with the cool breeze. She was a pretty unusual dragon considering her whole body was basically white, with the exception of her eye color.

"Nothing . . . nevermind, forget I said anything."

The white dragoness studied her for a moment, attempting to figure out what she meant. She merely shrugged it off and looked back down to see a half-eaten salad on her plate.

"Is something wrong?" the white dragoness asked, noticing her friend had yet to take one bite out of her meal.

The blue dragoness shook her head and sighed. "No . . . everything is fine." She only paid attention toward the small crowd around them though. Some dragons showed her a friendly smile while others never paid any attention to her. Nothing unusual for an afternoon in the market.

"How's your egg doing?" the white dragoness asked. Her friend clearly spotted the fancy accent in her voice when she asked that.

"Fine . . . probably won't hatch for a while though, with winter approaching and all."

"That's normal," the white dragoness replied in a matter of fact tone. "Have you thought of any names yet?"

The blue dragoness shook her head. "My mind's been completely blank. I've never been good at naming someone." She watched her friend take a bite of salad as she deeply sighed. Pushing her food to the side, the blue dragoness laid her head down on the table sideways, facing the crowd the passed by them.

The white dragoness quickly realized what she was going through. It was so obvious, yet, she just now spotted it. Swallowing her food quickly, she looked down upon her friend. The sympathy was clear in her voice. "You miss him don't you?"

She didn't even flinch at that question. "Obviously."

Kali deeply sighed, knowing good and well that moping wasn't going to help. Wasn't like there was much better things to do about the problem though.

"Are you thinking about his funeral darling?" the white dragoness compassionately asked.

Nodding the best she could, despite her head being rested upon the table, Kali lowly answered, "Yeah. Can't help to."

True to her word, her mind was flooded with the memories of that day.

It was partly cloudy and late in the day. Whiteoak Cemetery was packed full of dragons, all paying their respects to the many heroes of the war. Even the remainder of the humans was present. The four human beings paid their respects to their fallen comrades and dragons alike. It was one of the worst days Warfang had ever been a part of. So many were dead that it would be nearly impossible to pay respects to each and every one. Everything in the cemetery was so quiet, one could easily hear the wind rustle through the few treetops above them.

Kali was there, standing in front of one particular gravestone. Her white scaled friend stood close beside her with Star, the dragon who sent Ismeral Nexis to the void, on the other.

Star's current colors reflected his mood, black and stressed with a brown underbelly to go with it. The restless dragon was in deep thought as he stayed quiet, silently bowing his head toward the six graves in front of them. He paid no heed to any other visiting dragons behind him.

It just wasn't fair. Why did he have to disappear?

A single tear formed in her eye as she read the tombstone's inscription for what seemed the fifteenth time.

"_Here lies Cosmo the dragon. We will never forget._"

She knew there was no body buried here, but the gravestone still hurt to see. Falling in love with a dragon then having him disappear right in front of you into nothingness . . . .

It hurt.

"Kali!"

"Huh?"

Kali quickly escaped her memories as she looked up toward her friend with a worried expression. She looked downwards to see her own food still on the table waiting to be eaten.

"You gotta eat something," the white scaled dragoness implied.

"She's right," a familiar voice made itself known from behind. Kali turned to see an orange scaled dragon with a dark yellow underbelly wearing a small grin on his face. "It's not healthy. You didn't even eat breakfast."

Kali was quiet for a few seconds, watching several dragons pass by their table. It looked as if they were getting ready to order something themselves as they sat down a few tables away.

"I'm sorry Star, but I'm just not into it right now."

Star jumped over toward her in a quick fashion, almost startling her in the process. "You don't have to be in it, you just have to eat it!"

Kali groaned, "That's not what I meant."

The blue scaled dragoness stood to her feet and onto the stone below. It sent a slight chill through her as she slowly began to walk away from the table.

"Hey!" the white scaled dragoness began, "I already paid for that!"

"I'm sorry," Kali began, obviously feeling down. "I'll pay you back for it when we get home."

Star looked toward the white reptile to see her roll her eyes in response.

"I swear she's gonna end up in a hospital," she grumbled as she stood to her feet, leaving the restaurant's plates and unfinished food on the table.

"What's your name anyways?" Star suddenly asked as the dragoness walked toward him.

The dragoness sighed. "How is it that you don't know? Didn't Kali tell you?"

Star shook his head. "I tried to find the easter egg in the last story but I couldn't find squat."

The white dragoness tilted her head. "You're one strange character."

Star showed a smile.

"Anyways," the dragoness began, ignoring the chilly breeze that begun to blow. "We better catch up to Kali before she runs into a wall. You know how she's been lately."

The two reptiles quickly caught back up to Kali, who was slowly making her way toward home. Anyone who passed by could clearly tell something was amiss with her, but decided it was best not to bother her. A lot of dragons knew what was up with her losing Cosmo. They were still getting over the war themselves.

The trio didn't make much conversation. It felt a bit awkward to bring anything up whenever Kali was living in the past. Both of her friends wanted to make her feel better, but they tried everything they could think of in the previous times. Nothing worked.

Getting to Kali's home slower than usual, the white dragoness sighed as the blue reptile open her door. "If you guys don't mind, I think I'm gonna take a little nap."

"Okay," the white dragoness replied. "If you need to talk or anything . . . I'm here."

"And me!" Star added excitedly.

Kali forced a smile as she entered her home. "Thanks. It's very comforting to know."

Before anything else could be said, she closed the door leaving the other two dragons outside in the shallow snow. The white reptile sighed as the wind ruffled the fur on her spine.

"What do you think?" she asked toward Star. "Do you think she'll ever come around?"

"I'm sure she will Swift," Star quickly replied, turning back toward the empty street.

"Swift? That's not my name."

"You kinda look like a Swift."

"Well I'm not Swift."

"How about Fuzzyboots?"

The white scaled dragoness rolled her eyes as a breeze blew through the white fur on her spine. "Not even close."

The two of them began walked back down the street as Star followed behind. The white dragon was used to him by now. He was a bit of an oddity but nevertheless a delight to be around.

"Snowshoes?"

The white dragoness smiled once again. Yep, quite the delight.

_Meanwhile_

A large dark green scaled dragon paced around a small office, lost in thought to the world. It wasn't often that he received reports similar to the one on his desk. In fact it hardly ever happened and were usually something not even worth worrying about. But this held something else. Even though he had only been leading the city of Warfang for a small amount of time, the piece of paper he was delivered certainly felt important to him.

The dragon sighed as he looked over the report again. It mentioned a human being seen outside the city walls completely alone. He would have passed it on as someone from the Tathric Range, but the report indicated that the human wore odd clothing such as a black cloak concealing his identity. He was also seen with a strange necklace hung on his neck.

Humans were a rare sight to see near the city of dragons with the exception of the remaining five warriors of the war that happened months ago. The dragon doubted they were related to the being in the report.

The dragon's thoughts were interrupted as he looked up to see a white scaled dragoness the same size as him walk into the room.

"Afternoon, Relic."

"Afternoon, Felenia."

The tan bellied dragoness showed a small smile. "Something troubling you?"

Relic nonchalantly looked over toward the report on his desk. "You can say that."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Relic shook his head. "I don't know. I have a report of a strange human outside the walls."

Felenia cocked an eye. "Well as long as he's outside and not inside we're fine, right?"

The dark green dragon sighed. "I suppose so. But still . . . ever since the war I've been a bit edgy."

"I understand," the white dragoness replied. "Never hurts to be careful."

"I'm still new to this job," Relic blurted out. "Do you think I'm doing okay?"

Felenia looked down toward the report, unable to read due to her being too far. She looked back up with a grin. "I think you're doing great. Nothing in the city is on fire and I don't see a stack of complaints on your desk."

Relic couldn't help but show a small grin himself, appreciating the gesture.

"Why do you ask?" Felenia inquired as she stretched out her light colored wings.

Relic didn't hesitate to answer. "You've been here longer than me. You were here when Shivertail was still with us. Figured some of his talent rubbed off on you."

It was quiet for a few moments as Relic took a deep breath. He gazed around the room and spotted the bookshelf on the left side of the room. The dragon wondered if there was anything worth reading in there for a moment before Felenia got his attention once again.

"You're doing a fine job so don't worry about it."

Relic turned back toward her and nodded. "I understand."

"Still, if you need anything just ask. I'll be happy to give you my personal opinion."

Relic showed a grin once more. "I might have to take you up on that."

_Meanwhile_

"Lyre?"

"Nope."

"How about Juniper?"

"Odd name, still no."

This was entertaining to say the least. Throughout her entire trip home Star has been questioning her about her name, giving random guesses that made her laugh. The white scaled dragoness never seen anyone with so much energy before. Star seemed to be quite the fun dragon to hang out with.

She was nearly home. A light snow had started to follow only minutes ago during the trip. The streets felt a bit emptier than usual, probably due to the weather. She didn't mind it at all. Star wasn't himself when he was among other dragons he didn't know. At the moment that dragon was red. If she remembered right red was the mood color for feeling excited or energetic. She knew he could change his colors freely but was he aware his colors would change depending on his mood?

That's what it felt like anyways.

"Cutieboots?"

The white dragoness' face went to a light shade of red.

"Am I right? You look like a cutieboots!"

"That's what you said about all the other names."

"But they all fit! They're perfect names for you!"

"And I'm home!" the white dragoness quickly announced. "Thank you for the company but I should be getting inside before I freeze out here."

Star silently watched the dragoness walk up the few stone steps to her small home and opened the door. As she turned back around, she noticed Star was still there. Oddly enough he was quiet.

"Are you okay?" she politely asked, feeling the warmth of her home beckoning to her.

"I feel funny."

"Funny?" the dragoness felt a bit concerned at this point. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Star replied. "There's a weird feeling in my tummy."

The dragoness then realized Star was staring directly at her. She blushed, which was nearly impossible to hide. She also hoped it wasn't what she was thinking.

Suddenly she heard a growl come from Star's stomach area. It was louder than she would have thought possible.

"I'm hungry!" Star jubilantly exclaimed. "See you later Cutieboots!"

Star quickly turned around and began hopping back down the street from whence he came. The white dragoness poked her head out of the door to see the red dragon with a dumb smile on his face already on his way.

"It's not Cutieboots!"


	2. Hot and Humid

Chapter 2

Hot and Humid

The day started off pretty normally to say the least. It was bright as the midday sun hung almost directly overhead as a well-equipped human made his way forward through the thick and humid jungle. Bugs buzzed around as he wiped a few spots of sweat off his brow. Today looked as if it were going to be another hot day.

"Why can't it ever rain?" the human asked himself, reaching around to the bag slung on his back for the bottle of water in the side pocket.

Taking a sip of the warm liquid, the human snapped the cap back on and returned the bottle to its rightful place. Three days he spent traveling through this jungle and his resources were beginning to wear thin. His bottle of water was more than half-empty and the food he had brought with him was nearly gone. He was beginning to question if going into the jungle in the first place was the right thing to do.

He traveled onwards, attempting to make the best of it. Despite the random sounds of wildlife the thick canopy of the jungle held, the human was feeling pretty lonely. It had been several days since he last saw any other human being.

"Perhaps I should have stayed home and ignored my dreams," the human began, feeling a bit hopeless. "There's nothin' out here."

Sighing deeply, the human trudged on in spite of his best interests. Brushing off some dirt that clung to his light brown shirt, he stopped for a moment to stretch his legs. Silently, he knew he needed closure if his dreams were to ever become normal once again.

The day slowly trudged on. The humid air the jungle contained slowly made the human more tired with each passing minute. After a few hours, the sun was beginning to set, but was barely visible through the tall exotic trees. The human made sure to obtain whatever fruit he could carry during his travels. They would certainly help in the long run.

As it begun to grow dark in the jungle, the human noticed something a bit odd ahead of him. Making his way forward through the jungle, he came upon a circle of rocks in a small opening in the area. In the center of the circle was ashes.

The human could come up with only one explanation.

Someone else had been here.

It was very odd. What business did somebody else have in this remote jungle?

Carefully looking around for any other clues, the human thought it out. There wasn't anything out here of interest for anyone.

"I don't even know why I'm here," the human sighed, sitting down on a nearby stump. "Guess I have no other purposes right now."

Making use of the small pre-made campsite, he decided to call it a day and get some rest. Plenty of time to think about it during his much needed slumber. The human dug in his bag and pulled out a neatly folded red tarp out. He quickly unfolded it and laid it on the flattest part of the ground there was. As soon as he did, he set his bag down beside it and pulled out a small lighter from the side-pocket. Quickly gathering some wood, leaves, and anything else he could use to start a small fire, the human piled them up in the center of the pre-made camp and lit it.

He wasn't after its warmth, but its light. With all the noises in the jungle, he felt a bit more easy with there being a light source as he attempted to try to sleep on his tarp once more.

Despite the sounds of the local wildlife the human eventually found himself falling asleep in the most comfortable position he could find. Several hours passed as he fell into his dreams once more. It wasn't a mystery to what he was going to dream about.

The human found himself in a jungle once more, similar to the one he was asleep in. The sun was up above the canopy as he looked around. It seemed there was a clear path ahead of him, as if someone had been through here before. But it seemed there was one feature in this dream that he failed to notice in the others.

There was some kind of noise in the distance.

It sounded like a low tone with a kick of bass to it. He could almost feel the vibrations as the noise emitted every few seconds. Whatever it was, it was close.

Making his way forward, he followed the pre-made path before him. It seemed to be the logical choice of where to go. Slowly the bass began to grow louder as well as the vibrations becoming more tense. Eventually he came upon a half-broken stone pillar somehow still standing on the side of the path. Something was definitely in this direction.

Picking up the pace, the human continued down the road before him. There was no breeze, no sounds of wild animals, just the bass and vibrations in the ground.

Then he found it.

Sitting in front of him was some kind of ancient structure covered in vines and strange etchings around it. He slowly made his way closer to the object, then everything turned bright.

Then the human found himself opening his eyes, staring at the treetops.

"That dream again," he said to himself. "But it went more into detail this time. Am I getting close?"

Giving out a small yawn, the human slowly stood to his feet to see the sun's rays gleaming through the trees. Given the sun's location in the sky, he guessed it must have been sometime after ten o' clock. Looking back down, he noticed some embers where his campfire used to be. Kicking some dirt on top of it, he turned around to retrieve his tarp.

After being sure the fire was out, the human began making his way deeper into the jungle. The wildlife wasn't very active at the moment. He guessed they must have been sleeping in.

Around an hour passed and not much happened along the way. He decided to grab a random piece of fruit out of his bag to have something to munch on for breakfast. What he grabbed was considered an orange, but was green. Still good enough to eat though.

After eating a few of those fruits, the human began to notice something a bit out of the ordinary.

It was quiet.

The jungle was known for it's wildlife and hearing no sounds of it was a bit unsettling. Usually animals tended to stay clear of dangerous areas. The jungle itself couldn't possibly pose a threat, which meant there was something else causing the animals to stay away from this particular place.

No sooner than he thought it, a growl toward his right made itself known to him. The humans' immediate reaction was to reach into his bag, just as a predator breached from it's hiding place.

It was a black panther. A large vicious cat with claws sharp enough to tear through skin like it were mere paper. The cat growled as the human felt the handle of what he was after in his bag, just as the predator charged straight for him. The human quickly snatched the item he wanted out of his bag, revealing a nine inch exposed blade. Readying himself, he held the knife out in front of him, ready to strike the feline down.

But the cat stopped.

The panther sat there, staring at him with his bright green eyes, not even growling anymore. His ear were flopped back as he looked at the knife the human threatened it with. The human was a bit confused as to why the panther stopped, but wasted no time in taking action in this perfect opportunity.

Jumping forward toward the panther, he slashed downwards at the cat aiming for his neck. The panther's ears flopped back forward and quickly jumped out of the blade's way, escaping the weapons' blood thirst.

It was obvious that the human never seen anything quite like it, especially when he realized the panther was backing off. Just as it turned around to run, the human jumped it.

He wasn't expecting to land on its back, but did so with ease. He quickly reared his knife back, ready to give the killing blow. Then something stopped him in his tracks.

"Stop! Don't kill me!"

What was this madness? Did that panther just . . . ?

"I'm not here to hurt you!"

"What are you talking about?" the human replied, deciding to play along.

The panther's struggles ceased. "I can explain if you get off of me!"

Oddly enough, the panther had the voice of a immature child. Still, the human didn't know if he could trust it. Panthers weren't meant to speak.

Shrugging, but keeping his knife held tightly, the human slowly pushed himself off the animal, making sure to keep the knife at his neck just in case he tried anything. The panther slowly stood to his feet and shook his head around.

"Why did you have to be so rough?" the panther spoke once more, still a bit shaken up.

The human was a bit surprised. "You tried to maul my face off!"

"I did not! I was only scaring you!"

"Well it worked. Here's a tip, don't scare someone who's armed." A silent moment passed as he took a deep breathe to calm himself. "So? You gonna explain about how you talk and why you decided to scare me?"

The panther sighed as he sat down facing the human. "I was only protecting this area from intruders. As for the panther thing . . ."

It took only moments for the panther to suddenly become enveloped in a dark light. The human grew wide-eyed as he watched the panthers white figure to quickly change shapes into a much smaller creature of stature. The process took only seconds, but when it was done, the human was looking at a small light red fox with a white underbelly as well as a white tip on his bushy tail.

The human felt his grip loosen on his weapon as he felt awed by what he witnessed.

"What are you?"

The fox grinned. "You humans. You think you know everything but you obviously don't."

"You're a shape-shifting fox?"

"Pretty much. You humans called our species the Chinese fox, which was a mythological creature."

"The Chinese fox?"

The fox nodded. "I can change my shape whenever."

"But why are you out here?"

The human could see a bit of hesitance in the fox. "Well . . . some humans are nuts. They just want to find stuff and get rich. I guess . . . I could tell you. I'm guarding a gate."

Feeling no need to keep his knife out any longer, the human stowed it away into his bag once more. "A gate?"

"Yep!" the fox answered with a bit of enthusiasm. "A gate!"

"What kind of gate?"

"A super gate!"

"No, really."

"I don't know!"

The human raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what you're guarding?"

The fox shook his head. "Not really no. My only purpose was to guard it to make sure nothing finds it."

"Ah, that's why you tried to scare me off."

The red furred canid nodded. "Yep, but I've never seen anyone stand up to me before. You're something else!"

"Ah . . . I see."

"So whatcha doing out here anyways? Don't tell me you're wanting passage through the gate too?"

Now the human was puzzled. "Wait, too? Someone else was here?"

The fox nodded, "There was a girl that came through here. I tried to stop her but she outran me. She was fast and got through the gate before I could stop her."

"What did she look like?"

The small canid took a few moments to think about it. The human was definitely intrigued by this other human. Perhaps it was the same person who made that campsite?

"She was about your height with black hair. She looked a bit young to be out here."

"How young?"

"I don't know, about your age I would guess. Which reminds me, why are you here again?"

The human sighed. "I've been having reoccurring dreams of this place. Since I have no other purpose in my life, I figured I do some research about it. As I got closer to this place, my dreams had become more and more intense. Last night I dreamed I found an old structure somewhere near here."

"Stone arch and broken pillars?"

The human nodded, "That's it."

The fox smiled. "That's the gate."

"What is this gate?"

The fox shrugged. "A portal to another world, dimension, or even universe. I don't even know."

"Interesting," the human replied, bringing a hand up to his chin in thought.

"Would you like to see?"

"Is it okay?"

The fox made a small nod. "You know what this place is and you've been having dreams about it. It has to be for a reason." The canid turned and began walking down the path. "C'mon."

Unable to resist, the human began to follow. The jungle was still as quiet as it was before. No wildlife made itself known and the wind was barely able to blow through the many trees surrounding them.

"So what's your name?" the fox asked, looking back for a few moments making sure he was being followed.

The human didn't hesitate to answer that question. "It's Steven."

"Steven? It suits you I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well how should I know? I don't see many humans around here," the fox playfully joked. "You can call me Orion."

"Like Orion's belt?"

"What's that?"

Steven chuckled, still continuing down the path the same pace as before. "Star constellation."

Orion shrugged. "I've been living in a jungle. Sorry if my knowledge about blinky dots in the sky isn't too great."

"I understand," Steven replied, finding the situation more and more amusing by the minute.

Still, a polymorph red fox in a random jungle guarding an ancient gate to another dimension. He would never be able to explain that to any other human being without being sent to a psychotic ward kicking and screaming. If it were any other person, Steven would think they would pass out upon seeing such a creature.

It wasn't hard to believe for him. Steven had been through so much more in the past, turning into a dragon for one and being sent into another universe was another. So much took place while he was a dragon. Breathing elements, fighting baddies, saving the world from a dark twin planet set on a collision course due to the magic of an evil wizard. Yeah, he seen a lot.

Steven's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a faint noise in the distance. His pace pickened up slightly as he began to walk past Orion, who eyed the human oddly.

"What's up?" Orion asked, matching the humans' speed.

"That sound," Steven mumbled. "I know that sound."

"Sound?"

Getting closer to the source, the sound became a deep constant bass that emitted every few seconds. Soon enough, he begun to feel the vibrations of sound as he came up the familiar sight of a broken stone pillar off to the side of the path.

"The gate's up ahead," Orion began. "But what sound are you talking about?"

"It's a bass. I can feel it up ahead."

Without another word, Steven took off into a run. Finally, the answer to these constant dreams were about to be answered. Orion quickly caught back up with ease just as the ancient structure came into view.

Just like his dream, it was an old stone arch with strange etchings on it. It rested atop a stone ledge and was decorated with vines that twisted around everything it could. Steven kept his eyes facing the arch. The source of this constant bass was definitely coming from there.

"There's the gate," Orion announced, although he silently knew Steven already knew that.

"That's where the sound is coming from . . . I need to approach it."

"W—wait!" the red fox began. "I still guard this gate! I can't just let you go to it!"

"Orion, I need to go. This is the source of my dreams and the sole reason why I'm here," Steven pleaded. "I promise I won't do anything to it."

The fox was still hesitant about it and the human could see it in his eyes. Orion looked downwards, giving the request some heavy thought. He still guarded it. That was his purpose. But . . . perhaps he could let this slide just once. After all, he was fairly certain he wouldn't get scolded for it. Even if he would, who would do the scolding?

"Alright," Orion folded. "But I'm coming with you. No funny business okay?"

The human couldn't help but show a smile. "You have my word," Steven happily replied.

The human and fox turned back toward the sleeping gate and slowly began to make their way towards it. Orion looked up toward Steven for a moment, seeing he had his eyes set on the gate and nothing else. He never let anyone near this gate freely. Why was he starting now?

Soon enough, the duo found themselves climbing the ledge to stand in front of the gate itself. The stone arch was twice Steven's height and even wider than that. Taking a deep breathe, the human approached it to take a closer look. He also noticed the bass and vibrations had ceased due to his arrival. Orion made sure to stick to him like glue.

"What are you going to do?" Orion asked, hoping to receive some sort of answer.

Steven began studying the gate, attempting to decipher the reason of its existence. "I don't know honestly. If I do anything you're not comfortable with, don't hesitate to tell me. I don't mean to desecrate the thing you live to protect."

Orion nodded. "Thank you, it's comforting to know that you care."

The human wasted no time to make his way to the left arch to see what the etchings were all about. Upon closer examination, it seemed to him that the etchings actually seemed to be some other language but with symbols, similar to Japanese or Chinese. Steven could read neither language, but knew that whatever language this was written in was neither of those.

"The gate has been here for longer than I have," Orion explained. "Even I don't even know what language that is."

Disappointed, Steven took a few steps back took examine the whole gate further. "That girl you saw . . . she went through this gate?"

Nodding, Orion stood to his feet. "Yep, somehow she opened the gate and ran straight through. I don't know where she went though. I didn't intend on finding out honestly." The small canid slowly walked over toward the gate then looked up toward the center top of it. "There is one thing I do know about this gate though."

"Oh," Steven began, a bit intrigued.

"Look up there, its hard to tell for someone who isn't a polymorph, but there's two matching symbols up there."

"Interesting," Steven began. He looked up to where the fox described, but was unable to see what he was referring to. The symbols were much too small to be read at a distance.

"Here," Orion began. Steven looked back down to see the fox beginning to morph into a larger version of himself. Large enough to easily reach the top of the gate. "Climb onto my back," the fox offered, laying on his belly.

"You sure?"

Orion nodded. "Of course! I don't mind."

Hesitantly, Steven made his way over toward the overgrown fox and slowly climbed onto his back. Once he was good and comfortable, Orion stood to his feet, raising Steven's level to about where the top of the arch was. From here, it was much easier to see the symbols the red fox was referencing to. Squinting a bit, Steven looked upon the two symbols, then immediately grew wide-eyed as soon as he saw it.

"Those are dragons!" Steven exclaimed.

"Dragons?" Orion asked. "What are those?"

"They're fire-breathing winged reptiles! But . . . I don't understand. What is the purpose?"

Figuring he was done, Orion laid back down on his belly for Steven to dismount. The human slid off the back of the fox to land on the stone below. The fox wasted no time changing back to his original size.

"How do you know dragons?" Orion asked, turning toward the human.

Steven was silent. He looked down toward the fox and could see the gears turning in his head. The canid was interested to know about what he was guarding all this time.

"I may sound crazy . . . but a few months ago . . . I was a dragon myself."

"Odd," the fox replied unexpectantly. "Do continue."

"I was sent to the dragon world to defend it from the threat of a powerful human wizard named Ismeral Nexis. From what I know, he discovered an element he called the void. Ultimately he became corrupt and the government of that time banished him to a dark world. Long story short, he came back thousands of years later to destroy the government which he thought still existed. Me and several other dragons defeated him and banished him to the void."

It was a bit to take in so Steven let Orion think about it for a moment. He looked over toward the gate a few moments until he heard the fox speak.

"How did you get back to this world?"

Steven shrugged, returning his attention to the fox. "Whatever gods existed in that realm sent me back along with five others, who were also like me. Humans from this world that turned into dragons on arrival to their world. We were all forced to go and had no say so in the matter. It was a really sad day that I begged myself to forget."

"Why?"

The human was quiet.

Orion was also quiet for a short while. He hoped he didn't cross some sort of line asking him about something that seemed to be fragile toward him.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Steven forced a grin, "Thanks."

"Did you still call yourself Steven when you were a dragon?" the fox asked, tilting his head in wonder. "Steven seems a bit odd if you were a dragon."

The human chuckled, "Nope, in fact I called myself Cosmo."

Suddenly, the bass and vibrations he felt earlier began to emit once again, only this time it was much more intense. Steven's immediate response was to slap his hands against his ears, hoping to block out the painful noise that assaulted his eardrums.

"What's going on!" Orion cried out. "What's with that sound!"

"It's what I've been hearing since I got close to this thing!" Steven nearly yelled, referring to the gate. He found it strange that it started reacting to his presence so strongly for no reason after it had stopped earlier.

Or was it really no reason?

"Cosmo!" Steven called out once more. "I'm Cosmo! Cosmo the dragon!"

As if on cue, the noise and vibrations ceased immediately. Steven sighed in relief as Orion's ears flopped back in confusion. Before anything could be done or said, the gate began to have a reaction.

The breeze picked up as Steven watched a small light form in the middle of the arch. It slowly expanded as the wind began to blow even more as the white light reached the inner edges of the arches, leaving a small swirling white light as the wind begun to die down.

"Amazing," Orion began in pure wonder. " The gate reacted to you! It somehow knew what you are!"

"Yes," Steven began. "I don't know where this gate came from, but I have a strong feeling it's connected to the dragon world that I was forced to leave."

The red fox turned back toward Steven. "What are you going to do?" he asked, without second thoughts.

The human grinned. "If you don't mind, I'm going in."

Orion nodded. "I see . . . well . . . in that case, I'll come with you."

"Orion," Steven began, "Are you sure?"

The fox nodded. "I want to know what I've been guarding all this time. If you don't mind my companionship—."

"Not at all," Steven interrupted. "But I don't know if this gate is a two-way trip. Once we enter, there's a chance we won't be getting back for a very long time."

"And I'm completely fine with that. Besides, the gate only seems to react to people like you. How many people are like you? Not many I'm sure."

Steven felt a bit more at ease at this point. It would be odd having a polymorphic fox to travel around with, but it beat solo any day.

"Ready?" Orion asked, showing a sly grin.

"Of course," Steven replied, returning a grin.

Without another thought, the fox turned and jumped headfirst into the portal, disappearing from existence instantly. Steven turned and looked back at the jungle one last time as he tightened his bag on his back, then followed the fox's example.


	3. Long Time No See

Chapter 3

Long Time No See

The trip was indeed, not a very pleasant one. Steven felt very disoriented as he felt his body twist and turn through the portal of swirling white. The human could see Orion up ahead, falling in the same manner as him. Steven called out, but emitted no voice audible enough to get the fox's attention.

Then he noticed the swirling white begin to change. The swirling slowly ceased as the color darkened to more of a dark gray. Wind began to pick up and blow as his vision began to become cloudy. Soon enough, it was nearly impossible to see. Before everything went black, the last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in his abdomen before the wind began to die back down.

Steven didn't know what happened afterwards, quite possibly because he fell into unconsciousness. The ride felt like the portal he went through to get to the dark world from his last adventure in the dragon world, except without the fainting or pain. He hoped Orion was safe at least.

For the first time in a while, his slumber was dreamless. With his constant dreams of the portal he went through, he forgot how it was to not have any dreams at all. Still, he wouldn't mind having a pleasant dream for once.

Then he felt a cool breeze brush up against his back. The sound of treetops swaying made itself known as a sudden pain rushed through Steven's head for a few minutes. His eyes were kept shut, mainly due to the fact he was very weak and wanted to rest a bit more.

A few minutes passed until he felt something tap against his shoulder.

"Uh . . . Steven?"

Steven groaned. It sounded like Orion, but his head still ached.

"Steven . . . wake up."

Steven didn't respond.

"Stop being lazy! There's something you should really see!"

Finally he decided to speak. "What?" he began a bit harshly.

Obeying the fox, he slowly creaked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was the sunlight gleaming down onto a grassy plain. Several trees stood tall around them as they were rustled by the slight breeze. Birds chirped as his vision became more clear. In the distance was some mountains with what looked like to be a settlement near the bottom. It seemed to be several miles away however.

Then Steven slightly jumped as a small fox's face suddenly jumped into his view. "Yo!" he greeted with a smile. "You still seem to be alive, no broken bones. Or appendages. Wings seem fine too!"

"Good to know," Steven slurred. "Wait . . .".

Wasting no time, Steven stood up to look at himself, but nearly fell because of poor balance. He had yellow scales, gray horns that curved back, blue wings with a light green tint on the membrane, and a dark gray belly. His dark blue spines stood out as he noticed dark shaded diamond markings on his frontal limbs.

"I'm . . . a dragon. Then that can only mean that this is the dragon realm."

Orion couldn't tell what he was thinking but it seemed he had a lot going through his mind.

"How come I didn't change?" the fox asked, sitting down in front of Steven.

The yellow dragon looked downwards, "Probably because you're a polymorph, or the gods of this world had no plans to make you one."

"Oh . . . that's true I suppose. So are you gonna go by Steven or Cosmo? Cosmo sounds better in my opinion."

"Cosmo please," the dragon quickly replied.

Orion nodded, looking around the area from his spot. He seemed a bit excited to be in a new place he'd never seen before. Cosmo couldn't blame him.

"You've been here before yes? Any idea where we are?"

That was one thing. Cosmo looked around a bit, but nothing really looked familiar.

"I can't say I do, sorry."

Orion shrugged. "No big deal. How about we ask those guys?"

The fox pointed towards the settlement Cosmo noticed from before to see two gray dragons heading his way. Orion took his place beside the dragon as Cosmo attempted to study them before they arrived. It seemed they were headed straight for him, obviously because they peeked their interest.

"Excuse me," the dragon on the left began as he approached Cosmo.

Cosmo made no attempt to turn away. He didn't suspect any danger.

"Yes?" the yellow dragon began as the two visitors stopped a few feet away.

The two gray reptiles looked at each other before the one on the right continued. "Did you see a light? It happened around this area."

"A light?" Cosmo began. "Sorry . . . could you be more specific?"

"It was white and bright. It only lasted a few seconds before it disappeared. We were wondering if you seen it."

Cosmo was about to answer, that is until a small fox jumped on his head.

"Sorry," Orion began. "With the sun and all, we didn't see anything like that."

Cosmo felt slight discomfort as the two gray dragons stared at the small talking red fox laying on his back. He must have morphed to make himself a bit smaller, but it still didn't make a difference as he looked back toward the two dragons to see strange looks on their faces.

"Is that a talking fox?" one of them asked in disbelief.

"There a problem with that?" Orion retorted, not feeling offended or anything, just a bit surprised. "You dragons talk, I didn't freak out over that!"

"No, no, there's no problem. We were just surprised is all." the gray dragon on the right continued. "Apologies sirs, but we saw a light very similar to the one we saw just then and wanted to see what it was."

"When?" Cosmo asked, politely as he could.

"Earlier today. We saw a black fur dragon walking the path much like you but she claimed she didn't see anything either."

"You talk too much," the other dragon interrupted.

"Not like it matters."

At this point Cosmo was intrigued. There was only one black fur dragon he knew in the dragon world.

"Where did this fur dragon go?"

"Into Clawstone," the dragon quickly answered, referring to the settlement behind him. "Small city but good dragons. If you're traveling you should definitely give it a visit."

Cosmo nodded. "Many thanks. Hope you get the white light thing sorted out."

Without another word, Cosmo quickly made his way by the two gray dragons with Orion still hanging out on his back. If that black fur dragon went into Clawstone, that was where he was going.

"Sir!"

Cosmo didn't want to, but turned to face the guards once again.

"Is this your bag?" one of the guards mentioned, referring to a light brown bag laying on the ground.

"Oh!" Cosmo began. "Yes! I put it down earlier and must have forgotten! Silly me!"

The yellow reptile quickly retrieved it and slung it over his back the best he could. As soon as he could, he began his walk back down the road like before. The items he had before he jumped in the portal felt they were still present in the bag, but it felt unsafe to check with the guards behind him.

"Polite bunch," Orion began, getting into a position where he rested his forepaws on top of Cosmo's head in between his horns. "Where we going anyways?"

"Straight into Clawstone," Cosmo answered.

"Well the scenery is nice," Orion replied with a smirk. "Giant plain, normal trees, even grass. Better than jungle."

"You know you have legs."

Orion hung his head upside-down in front of Cosmo's face, who still kept walking despite the giant obstacle obscuring his vision.

"Walk? But your head is comfy."

"Could you polymorph into a leaf at least?"

"I'll get blown away by the wind," Orion replied, showing his teeth with a smile. "Besides, I won't get into trouble if I'm on your head and not wandering around right?"

"Ugh, fine."

Orion looked back forwards, letting Cosmo see where he was going once again. "Not like you're carrying weight, I only weigh like three pounds when I'm this size."

"Still," Cosmo began. "Exercise is good for you."

"Pft, exercise is good for you," Orion mimicked. "Exercise is good for nothin'!"

Cosmo rolled his eyes, "You're unbelievable."

The cool breeze blew as a silent minute passed. Cosmo was mostly focused on getting to Clawstone so his thoughts were elsewhere, thinking about the fur dragon. He hoped to find her. The fur dragon's presence would definitely help him if it was the dragon he was thinking of.

"So that guy back there said we were in Clawstone?" Orion questioned. "I know you mentioned some other city before."

"Warfang," the dragon reminded.

"Right, Warfang. Do you know where Warfang is from here? I think our best bet is to go to the place you're most familiar with."

"I'm not exactly sure," Cosmo responded, attempting to remember as they approached an entrance into Clawstone. "I think it's south from here."

"So why we heading here?"

"That fur dragon the guard mentioned. She sounded very familiar and I intend to find her."

"Right," the red fox began, then yawned. "Wake me if something interesting happens."

"What?" Cosmo began. "You can't just go to sleep on my head!"

"Why not?"

"Other dragons will annoy me with it."

"Oh boo-hoo. It's no big deal. Just tell them I'm a hat."

No sooner than he said it, Orion quickly poofed into a small straw hat that fit Cosmo's head perfectly. His horns fit through two holes and prevented the sun's rays from reaching his eyes.

"I look ridiculous," Cosmo muttered.

"Well what do you want?" the straw hat replied. "I've been living in a jungle nearly my whole life."

"I would rather tell anyone who asks that you're just my pet fox."

The straw hat quickly polymorphed back into the small fox it was before. Cosmo flinched as the fox landed on his head.

"P-pet? I'm not a pet! I'm not anyone's pet!"

"Well why not just polymorph into a dragon then?"

"Because that would require me to walk!" Orion explained. "Besides, there's some dragons over there. I don't think you would want me morphing in front of someone." Orion then grinned. "Might cause a riot or chaos."

Cosmo wasn't amused as he approached a large gateway into the small city. Some guards stood by the road keeping a close eye on him as he walked by. Even with Orion on his head, they let him pass.

"Keep that pet of yours under control!" the yellow reptile heard from behind.

Orion deeply sighed.

"Don't," Cosmo began, reading the fox's mind. He heard grumbling as a response.

The city seemed pretty quiet. Not much seemed going on as Cosmo walked down the lone road with the fox on his head. Some trash littered the cobbled ground as he passed by a few buildings, some of them having signs in front of them, others not. He guessed they were shops but they weren't seeing much activity at the moment. Some spots had some grass and flowers here and there but the road was mostly cobble.

Cosmo continued down the road when he saw someone up ahead. He needed information from someone within the city and he had to ask someone.

"Excuse me," Cosmo began as he approached the light orange dragon.

"Yes?" the dragon replied, actually revealing to be a dragoness. She turned to face Cosmo as noticed the fox on his head. "Oh how adorable. A baby fox, I haven't seen one of those in ages."

"I'm looking for someone," Cosmo asked, hoping she would disregard Orion long enough to answer his question. "She's a black fur dragon, hard to miss. Have you seen anyone like that recently?"

"Can't say I have," the orange dragoness replied, sounding disappointed. "Sorry."

Cosmo showed a smile. "It's alright. Thanks though."

Quickly moving on before Orion freaked her out, Cosmo made his way further into the city. The little fox did his best to keep quiet as they traveled. The scenery seemed to stay the same though. Not much to look at in Clawstone other than the big mountain it was built in front of. The fox spotted snow on top the mountain's cap and guessed it must have been pretty high up, especially since it seemed to be above the clouds.

Soon enough Cosmo found himself in a large square where many dragons seemed to hang out. Small stands stood alongside the edges of the square where some dragons did business, whether it be selling fruit or oddities. The yellow reptile begun questioning several dragons about the fur dragon, but he always seemed to got the same answer. Nothing. It didn't help having Orion on his back either. The dragon's seemed more interested of why Cosmo was carrying a fox instead of a fur dragon in their midst. He was beginning to grow frustrated at his lack of success.

"Excuse me," a male dragon's voice called out.

Cosmo turned around to see a dark red dragon nearly twice his size standing there. It was a bit startling, especially how intimidating he looked.

"Did I hear that conversation correctly? A black fur dragon?"

Cosmo quickly nodded. "Y-yes. Have you seen her?"

The red dragon nodded. "I have in a matter of fact. She entered the restaurant over there earlier." He pointed toward a small building across the square called 'Drape's Diner'. "She should still be in there, it wasn't that long ago."

Cosmo showed a smile of appreciation. "Thank you sir, I appreciate it."

The yellow reptile wasted no time in heading toward the building. He was almost in a run as he made his way to 'Drape's Diner'.

"This black fur dragon," Orion began. "She's friendly right?"

"Depends on who's side you're on," Cosmo replied, stopping in front of the diner. "Best behavior. No polymorphing. No talking."

"Aw, no talking?"

"Not yet anyways. I don't want anyone freaking out that you're a talking fox."

"Fine," Orion muttered distastefully, setting his head back down in between Cosmo's horns.

Cosmo took a deep breath, then opened the door to the diner. The smell was the first thing he noticed. Meat and salt. The second was the amount of dragons inside.

There wasn't that many. Only a few here and there.

Before he moved, Cosmo heard a growl come from the top of his head.

"Sorry," the reptile heard in a hush tone. "The smell is so good here."

"Excuse me sir," a voice came from over the counter. Cosmo turned to see a light pink dragoness running it. "No pets."

"I'm not a pet!" Orion exclaimed, unable to contain it anymore. "I'm a living breathing being like everyone else."

Everything in the diner was quiet. Cosmo looked around, slightly embarrassed at Orion's outburst. But as he did, he noticed a black fur dragon standing near the counter on the far right, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh," the pink dragoness went simply, a bit confused toward Orion. "Sorry sir, it's just I've never seen your kind before. Still, I don't know if I can allow you to eat here."

"Aw c'mon I'm starving. Cosmo help me out here!"

At this point the fur dragon Cosmo was staring at immediately turned to face him. Cosmo could almost see the expression on her face. Disbelief? Surprise? Whatever it was, it caused her to rush over to him in a hurried fashion.

"I'm sorry," the fur dragon began as she stopped in front the dragon. "But did you say Cosmo?"

Orion rolled his eyes, but noticed something as he studied her. "Wait, you're the dragon we're looking for! Right Cosmo?"

The fur dragon's eyes widened as she studied Cosmo from head to toe.

Cosmo couldn't help but utter. "Isis?"

Almost immediately, the fur dragon wrapped her furry forelimbs around Cosmo's neck. The yellow reptile's breath was taken away, but returned the favor as quickly as he could. This was her. Isis, the fur dragon who he had many adventures with in the past.

"Help!" Orion barely managed, attempting to get free from Isis's iron grip. "Can't breath . . . choking . . . on sentiment."

Reluctantly, and for Orion's sake, Isis pulled away. "I can't believe this. You're here!"

Cosmo grinned as he felt Orion slowly stand to his paws. "Of course! But I never expected to find you! So soon even!"

The light pink dragoness from the counter was intrigued by now. She leaned over the counter and began in a low tone. "You know him?"

Isis quickly nodded, her eyes beginning to water from sheer happiness. "I do. We've known each other for a long time now. Been good friends the first day we met."

Cosmo couldn't help but feel fuzzy inside.

"I'm starving," Orion blurted out. "Got any food?"

Cosmo rolled his eyes. "I have some fruit in my bag."

The little fox wasted no time to plunge into Cosmo's bag.

"Watch out for the knife," Cosmo said lowly.

"Got it," the yellow reptile heard in response. Soon enough, it sounded like Orion found something worthy of him to eat.

Isis looked around the diner a bit, then back at Cosmo. "We need to catch up, let's go."

Cosmo nodded. "No disagreement here."

The two of them walked out the diner, leaving the small amount of dragons inside a bit confused as to what just happened. It didn't matter to either of them though. All Isis was worried about was leading them away from the square and onto the nearest street. Soon enough, all was quiet once more as the made their way down the road as Orion still munched on whatever fruit he had found.

Finally, Cosmo was the first to break the silence. "How did you get here?"

Isis smiled. "Same as you I'm guessing. Portal?"

"In the jungle," Cosmo finished. "Dreamed about it?"

"Yep."

"Felt a need to check it out?"

"Yep."

"Wait a second!" a voice emanated from Cosmo's bag. Orion quickly crawled out to look at Isis. "It was you who got passed me and used the portal without my permission!"

"Huh?" Isis began. "Well you're pretty small. Easy to miss. Besides, I was running from a panther at the time."

"I was the panther!" Orion exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone.

Isis showed clear signs of confusion toward the fox. Clearly this animal was just a fox in her point of view.

"He's a polymorph," Cosmo answered. "He was the one chasing you."

"What? Why?"

"I wanted to keep the portal safe," Orion answered. "But you got there before I did."

"How about Cosmo?" Isis replied, a bit surprised about Orion. "Did he get past you too?"

"No," Orion answered turning back toward Cosmo's bag. "I let him in as long as he let me come with him."

"Actually," Cosmo objected. "If I recall correctly I had a knife against your throat and you folded."

Isis turned toward Cosmo, "You were about to kill that little fox?"

"He was a polymorphed panther! I didn't know at the time. But he explained everything before I did him in."

Orion rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you still wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

The little canid returned his attention to the fruit he was eating in the bag on Cosmo's back. It seemed all he was worried about at the time was getting rid of the empty void in his stomach.

"So . . . what's your plan?" Isis asked. "As if I need to ask."

"Gonna head to Warfang," Cosmo replied nonchalantly. "I need to see Kali."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"What do you mean?"

Isis stopped to look Cosmo in the eyes. The yellow reptile stopped as well, but mostly out of confusion.

"Cosmo, what if we're forced to leave again?"

Cosmo was quiet. He didn't think of that.

Isis continued. "The dreams we had that made us search for the portal. What if we're needed in the dragon realm again? What if when our role is complete once more the gods will throw us out yet again?"

Cosmo turned, deep in thought. He didn't want Kali to go through the same hardship again. Disappearing from her arms was something he didn't want her to go through again. He didn't know if she could take it.

"I need to at least see if she's okay," Cosmo replied. "Kali, Star, Torch, and Micha."

Isis nodded. "I have a friend to visit as well. I wouldn't mind know how she is doing. Not to mention Spyro and Cynder. They were a part of this too."

Cosmo smiled. "I guess my answer still stands. I want to go to Warfang."

"Right," Isis began with a sigh of approval. "Luckily we're in a city I'm familiar with. If we head south we should end up in Garipton. Beyond that is the road to Warfang. It's quite a walk though."

"Why don't we fly?" Cosmo suggested.

Isis snorted. "I haven't been in a dragon body for months. It'll take me a few days to break back into it. Not to mention I can't breathe any elements yet."

"I guess it's gonna take a little bit for our inner dragons to show," Cosmo said, looking up towards the partly cloudy sky.

"Walking!?" A voice emanated from within Cosmo's bag exclaimed.

"Relax," Cosmo began. "Everyone knows you're just gonna lounge on my back the whole time."

"Hmm." Isis showed a grin. "Seems like we have a third in our party."

The fur dragon then saw the fox's head poke out of Cosmo's bag. She noticed some orange liquid on lips and giggled as a result.

"The name is Orion! It's a pleasure! Now back to my mango."

"Don't eat everything in there!" Cosmo warned.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it."


	4. A Chilly Reception

Not sure when the next update will be to be honest. I'll be without a laptop for a while and will have nothing to work on it on. Hoping I can get a new laptop. You can help if you go to my profile. The first paragraph will explain. Just been struggling a bit financially :/

Chapter 4

A Chilly Reception

The weather was fairly cool as the chilly breeze blew across the open meadow. There were more clouds in the sky when they left Clawstone on their short journey to the next nearest settlement of Garipton. It was there they would rest up, stock up on food if necessary, then head out onto to southern road to Warfang.

Cosmo casually looked up toward the sky, seeing a bundle of darkened clouds ahead of them. He didn't think much of it though. His mind was mostly elsewhere.

Feeling some movement in the pack he had on his back, Cosmo glanced back to see Orion finally emerging from it after his snack of mango.

"Hope you didn't devour everything in there," Cosmo said. "We need it to last until we get to Garipton."

"Relax," Orion sighed, hopping up on Cosmo's head for a better view. "So this Garipton place . . . how far away is it?"

Unsure, Cosmo turned toward Isis.

"It's about a sixteen hour walk," she replied nonchalantly.

"Sixteen hours?" The fox was a bit surprised at how far it was. "You two can't fly?"

"Well . . ." Cosmo began, fumbling around for the words to explain. "I used to. I haven't been in a dragon body in a long time."

"So you stink at it?" Orion harshly responded.

"Hey," Isis began, getting the canid's attention. "It's not that easy to fly right off the bat when you've been a walking bipedal for several months. Our bodies need time to gain their strength back before we're able to do that, use elements, or our abilities."

"Booooring."

Isis eye'd the fox aggravatingly as he hopped off Cosmo's back for the first time since she seen him. "There's just no pleasing you is there?"

Polymorphing back to his original size as he walked in between the two dragons, he smiled towards the fur dragon. "Don't be like that, I'm sure there's something you're good at."

Isis rolled her eyes, "How about polymorphing into a—"

"Isis," Cosmo interrupted. "Be nice."

Cosmo only heard grumbling in response. Sure Orion could be a bit much sometimes, but Cosmo felt it would be a good idea to bring him along, even before he entered the gate.

Up ahead in the distance looked like a tree line connecting to a forest. The path the trio was on looked as if it were headed straight toward it. Cosmo looked back up toward the sky, seeing the same darkened clouds from before, then back toward the path ahead.

_Meanwhile_

A light blue dragon hopped down the street and skidded to a stop in front of a familiar house. Wasting no time, he opened the door and made his way inside. The room he was in was fairly small, but held a comfy couch sitting in front of an active fireplace. On the couch was a pure white dragoness, who quickly turned to see who was intruding in her home as if he owned the place.

"Star?"

"Hi Cutieboots!" Star jubilantly greeted.

Again with that name. The dragoness felt her face flush as she looked back toward the fireplace. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was going around the city but everything was just so boring. I didn't think I should bother Kali so I came here."

Odd that he would do that. The white dragoness never had Star visit her once before. Of course, it may have had something to do with he didn't know where she lived until earlier today.

"What do you expect to do here?" the white dragoness asked, finally able to look back toward Star.

She noticed he was light blue, which, if she remembered right, meant he was calm and collected. She didn't know her mood colors that well though, if they even had an effect on Star to begin with.

Star shrugged. "I don't know, it just felt like that I needed to be here."

"Was it to try and guess my name?"

"I know your name," Star replied with a smile. "It's Cutieboots!"

"It's not Cutieboots! And close the door!"

Star looked behind him to see the door was still wide open, letting all the cold air come in. He also noticed he tracked some snow in as well.

"Oops."

The white dragoness sighed as Star closed the door behind him.

"Are you sure it's not Cutieboots?" Star, once again, asked as he took his place beside the couch the white dragoness sat on.

"I'm sure Star."

"Then what is it?"

She was about to answer, but decided to ponder on it for a little bit. The guessing game was a bit fun after all. Star never seemed to run out of energy for it, plus she too was bored.

"I'll give you a hint," the white dragoness smiled. "It's similar to something up toward the North."

"Santa Claws!"

The white dragoness smacked a paw against her forehead. "Oh dear."

"Santa Claws' wife!" Star continued. "Rudolph! Prancer! Comet!"

"I'm afraid it has nothing to do with Santa," the white dragoness replied, grinning to herself.

"Aw," Star simply went, a bit disappointed at his lack of success. "How about Starlight? Or Brighteyes?"

The dragoness shook her head. "Nope. Starlight's a nice name but Brighteyes has nothing to do with the North."

The night went on as Star's names came and went. It didn't take a genius to know how they all turned out though. The white dragoness' name remained a mystery to the energetic dragon, but she still enjoyed the company. Now that she remembered, the last time she had company that stayed for more than five minutes was with Isis. It had been several months since she received news of that fur dragon's disappearance. She wished her fate had been different.

Taking a look out the window, the white dragoness realized it was dark out.

"Oh my, I didn't realize it was dark out already." Standing to her feet, she made her way toward the window beside her door. "I had better get that fireplace going. Don't want this place to become a frigid icebox in the morning."

Star quickly stood to his feet as if on cue. "Don't worry Starlight, I got it."

The white dragoness turned just in time to see Star breathe a small stream of fire onto the wood in the fireplace. It quickly began to burn, emitting a comfortable heat in the room. The dragoness rolled her eyes, then walked over toward the fireplace and into the heat's comfort.

"It's not Starlight."

"But you said it was a nice name."

"Désolée chéri, it is a nice name, but it is not mine," the dragoness answered with a smile.

Star cocked his head, studying the dragoness that sat before him. For a second there, it sounded like a different dragon spoke to him.

"I'm not from here," the dragoness said, knowing good and well what his curious mind was thinking. "I moved here from a small city named Clawstone near a small range of mountains."

"Clawstone?" Star repeated, laying down on his belly.

"Indeed," the dragoness continued. "Although my heritage hails from the country of Highscales, I was hatched in Clawstone. If I can remember correctly, I was born on a late cloudless night during a rare phenomenon that was in the sky."

"Awww," Star cooed. "What was in the sky?"

The white dragoness smiled. "Maybe some other time Star. For now you should probably get back home before it gets any colder outside."

"But I don't want to go back to the Elder Hall," Star lowly said. "There's no one there but Felenia at night."

Star looked back at the dragoness with pleading eyes. She knew what he was asking, but the truth was she never had the opportunity to open her home to someone else, even if it was only for one night. Plus it would be a bit questionable if the wrong dragon saw Star in her house.

"Is it okay if I stay here?" Star lowly asked.

It seemed all of his energy was drained to ask that one question. The dragoness had never seen this side of Star before. She as much thought as she could into the request before showing a small smile.

"Yes, I would like your company for the night."

Before she knew it, Star jumped her, throwing two limbs around her neck. The dragoness' breath was knocked out of her as she fell to the ground with Star on top, not intending on letting his affectionate hug go anytime soon.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Star exclaimed happily.

"Y-you're welcome," the dragoness stuttered, her face turning a light shade of red. She didn't realize how much a simple yes meant to him.

"It's just . . . I've been staying at the Elder Hall all the time," Star continued, his excitement lowering a bit. "I've always wanted to have a sleepover."

The white dragoness was quiet. Even though Star had only been hatched for nearly half-a-year, he had the body of a full grown adult. His growth process was artificial. She understood how he acted a bit childish sometimes.

Finally, Star let the dragoness go and stood to his feet. The dragoness just laid there however, deep in thought about this dragon.

"Do you mind if I call you Starlight?" Star quickly asked, getting the dragoness' attention once more.

"Starlight? It's very similar to your name though."

"How about Brighteyes?"

The dragoness thought about it for a moment. Star wore a small grin on his face as he waited for her answer.

"What if I tell you my real name?"

Star gasped. "Are you sure?"

The dragoness nodded as she stood to her feet. "You worked hard, you deserve to know."

Star started jumping in place, clearly showing happiness toward her. "Tell me! Tell me!"

Smiling, the dragoness answered. "Alright . . . you may call me—"

_Meanwhile_

Cosmo knew he should have thought ahead. Going into a forest wasn't the best of ideas when it was getting dark, especially if the particular ability to see in the dark wasn't working. But that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was that he was freezing. Snow fell from the treetops covering the ground below. Everywhere he stepped was snow.

"You okay Cosmo?" Isis politely asked. "I know it's dark but we should keep moving. I don't know what kind of creatures live in this place."

"If they aren't friendly then I agree," Orion added, still walking along the two dragons. Being a fox, he had no trouble seeing through the dark in the forest.

Cosmo forced a nod. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

It was no wonder to why Isis or Orion wasn't freezing themselves. They had fur. He didn't. However, he didn't want to slow them down. But truth be told, he didn't know how much further he could walk through the snow. It was beginning to take its toll upon him.

A few more minutes passed until Orion looked back toward Cosmo, who began to fall behind.

"Cosmo?"

The yellow dragon looked up toward the fox, teeth chattering as a breeze blew through the forest. Isis stopped long enough to turn around, only to see Cosmo shivering violently in place.

"I-I don't th-think I . . . can g-go on."

It was then that the fur dragon realized that the dragon was suffering greatly in the cold. She felt guilty as she ran back towards him, knowing good and well she should have realized what was wrong with him before.

"I'm so sorry Cosmo!" Isis apologetically exclaimed. She used her furry tail to clear a spot on the ground from snow. "I feel so stupid for not noticing."

"What's wrong with him?" Orion quickly asked.

Finished up, Isis led Cosmo to the spot she cleared on the ground. "He's freezing! We need to warm him up!"

Laying the shivering dragon down on the cold grass, Isis looked him over. She put a paw on his side, only to have an icy chill travel through her leg.

"Keep still," Isis said.

Orion simply watched as the black fur dragon lay her body over Cosmo's, covering him up with her fur like a blanket. The fox looked off to the side, thinking of a way to help free Cosmo from the weather's icy grip on him. Then he hatched an idea.

"I'll be right back Isis," Orion stated simply, then suddenly bolted off into the dark forest.

Isis didn't even get the chance to ask before the fox disappeared from her sight. She was too focused on keeping Cosmo warm, who was still shivering beneath her.

"I-Isis."

"Shh," Isis cooed. "It's going to be alright Cosmo."

"It's n-not . . . your fault."

"I should have noticed before," Isis retorted softly. "So yes . . . it is."

A silent moment passes as another breeze rushed through the trees. Cosmo was slightly beginning to feel the numbness in his body disappear, only to have it replaced by Isis' body-weight. The fur dragon was doing everything in her power to warm him up.

Then Isis perked her ears up as she heard some footsteps in the snow close-by. She looked towards the noise, but he night vision ability wasn't working. The fur dragon only waited.

The time in between each footstep was too spread apart for it to be Orion. Of course, she immediately remembered he was a polymorph. He could have shape-shifted into anything by now. That was what she hoped as the noise began to grow closer with each passing second.

Then she saw it, and it was simply unbelievable.

It was a human. He was heavily clothed in a tattered brown outfit with a hood over his head. It was nearly impossible to see his identity in the darkness.

The human stopped at the sight of the two dragons and immediately unsheathed a short hidden blade from his side. Isis immediately jumped him, knocking the blade loose from his grasp and knocked him down to the snowy ground. Whoever this was, he sure didn't seem friendly.

"Who are you?!" Isis demanded. "Tell me!"

The human quickly jumped to his feet as he quickly spotted the blade he had lost, slightly sunken in snow beside the fur dragon that scolded him.

It was dark, but Isis could tell what he was looking at. She knew that without that weapon this human was powerless against her. The humans of this world wasn't stupid enough to try and take a dragon on without a weapon in their hand.

Regardless, the human did the unthinkable and jumped Isis. The fur dragon grew surprised as he landed on her, knocking the breath out of her as she hit the ground. Before she could recover, the human grabbed the weapon he dropped from before and turned toward her.

As soon as she was standing, the human charged. When the timing was right, Isis jumped toward the side, evading the humans' downward swing, then swung her claws toward the leg. She felt contact as she ripped through the clothing, hearing a grunt of pain from the attacker in the process. The human quickly kicked Isis in the face, knocking her back in a daze, giving him the room he needed to recuperate from the hit he just took.

Just as Isis was about to jump him, the attacker was hit from behind, knocking him down to the ground once more. Standing on the other side was Cosmo, who still looked weak from the cold the weather brought.

The human jumped to his feet and backed up enough to where he could keep an eye on both dragons at once. Then he noticed Cosmo.

Without a second thought, the human sprinted toward him with his weapon in hand, ready to end the weakened dragons' life.

"Cosmo!" Isis called out.

But before she could stop him, a fire suddenly burst from out of nowhere in between Cosmo and the attacker. The fire barely lasted for a second before disappearing, but it surely got the humans' attention. Isis was quick to get to Cosmo's side, just as Orion showed up in her sight.

He was twice as big as he was before. He had obviously polymorphed.

The fox also had a few logs gripped in his mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Orion asked, dropped the logs. "You better get out of here if you know what's good for ya!"

As the fox raised his tail, another fire burst out of nowhere in front the human. Quickly sheathing his weapon, the human slowly began to back off.

"Go!" Orion exclaimed. "Or I'll set your clothes on fire!"

It didn't take any more threats to send the attacker scurrying back into the depths of the forest. Isis turned toward Orion, simply amazed.

Isis was quick to get Cosmo to lay back down in the spot he was before. The fur dragon laid herself back down on top the cold dragon as she looked back toward Orion.

"How did you do that?"

Orion showed a grin. "I'm a chinese fox. Did you think polymorphing was my only ability? The answer is nope . . . with my tail I can set fires to whatever I please. But only little fires. Big ones tend to make me tired."

The fox set the wood he brought from the snowy forest near Cosmo, then polymorphed back into his original size. He didn't waste any time to set the wood ablaze with fire with his tail. Isis watched as the log combusted into flames, sending a wave of warmth toward her and Cosmo. She slowly stood to her feet to let the dragon under her feel the effects of the fire Orion made for him.

"Thanks," Cosmo managed, still laying on his belly. "Both of you."

"You should get some sleep," Isis suggested, no longer worried about him freezing. "I'll keep watch . . . just in case."

Cosmo looked up toward the dragoness. "But you need sleep too."

Isis shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'll sleep when we get to Garipton. We can't risk that human coming back."

"Speaking of which," Orion began, looking down the path the human scandaled to. "Are humans usually like that towards dragons?"

Isis turned toward the fox in thought. It wasn't hard to recall that time where Ismeral Nexis used convexity and the void elements to poison dragons minds, forcing them to do his will. She also remembered that other time where humans attempted to invade Warfang.

"Actually, humans did attack Warfang nearly a year ago I believe. They wanted to wipe the dragons out of the city for some reason."

"Seems humans aren't too friendly in these parts."

Isis looked over towards Cosmo, who seemed to have found sleep fairly quickly.

"Well, there were some humans who were friendly. I don't know what happened to them though. They helped us during the brigade against Warfang before we were sent back to the human realm."

Orion yawned. The fox quickly curled himself up in front of the fire, which was quickly melting the snow around it. He felt the ground was a bit damp, but didn't pay it much attention.

"Right . . . well if you see any trouble wake me."

"Alright," Isis simply went.

Orion was alright in her eyes. He did his part and saved Cosmo's life by sending that human off running.

Isis took a moment to think about the human. He didn't seem that well armed but was obviously trained. When he was without his weapon, she was sure he would have backed off. It wasn't until Orion showed up that he ran for it. He must have fought against dragons before to not be afraid of them. That would explain why Orion frightened him. Or it could have been the fact the fox made fire appear out of thin air.

Isis curled herself up near the fire as she stared off into the darkness of the woods surrounding her. More time to think about that fox later.

There was a reason they were in the dragon realms again. What plan did the gods have for them now? Was Ismeral Nexis making a comeback? Did he somehow find a way to escape the void? Or was it something more?

_The Following Morning_

The snow had passed over, leaving the forest covered in a thick blanket of snow. The tree's held the white substance on their limbs as several birds chirped their morning chorus's. Cosmo, Isis, and Orion had a quick bite to eat out of the fruit from the yellow dragon's bag before they headed off. Of course, it would be a little bit longer until they reached the city. It was there that they would stock up on food and sleep in until heading to Warfang.

Isis's mind was clearly elsewhere. Cosmo, who was feeling much better now that the sun was out, had noticed after after a while.

"Something on your mind? You seem a bit off."

Isis looked over toward Cosmo, seeming drained of energy. "Just wondering why we're here."

"Oh . . . I don't know."

"Does there have to be a reason?" Orion asked, walking alongside Cosmo through the snow. The fox's paws were a bit larger than usual, possibly because he had polymorphed them to make it easier to walk through the snow. "Maybe you two were given a choice to come back? Like an invitation."

"I don't think so," Isis replied. She sighed and continued. "I just don't want to get my hopes up on staying here is all."

Cosmo could understand that. It was too heartbreaking last time when they were forced to leave, she just doesn't want to go through all that again. To be honest, he didn't either.

_Warfang_

_Elder Hall_

The elder building wasn't too bustling with activity this morning. Relic yawned as he entered his office for the first time today. He glanced through the window behind his desk to see a thin layer of snow covering the streets. Didn't seem to be any dragons out though.

The large dark green dragon sat down in his oversized chair behind his desk, only to notice a folded piece of paper resting on top of it. He picked it up to examine it to notice it seemed to be a report, much similar to the one he received the other day. Wasting no time to open it, Relic began looking it over.

"Sir," a voice emanated. Relic looked up to see his assistant Felenia entering the room. "Oh, it seems you found it."

Relic looked back down toward the note and continued reading. It was a report from the northern gate of Warfang, mentioned they saw a human entering the forest early yesterday morning, heading toward Garipton. He was seen heavily clothed in a beat up brown outfit, so it was impossible to see a face.

"What's with the human sightings recently?" Relic rhetorically asked. "First there's the human near the eastern gate, now there's a different one near the northern gate heading into the forest. Only city in that direction is Garipton."

"Chances are he has already made it to Garipton," Felenia replied. "I don't think he would have went in the city walls however. Humans are still very much unwanted in most places."

"Sir," Felenia began. "Perhaps we should look into this. Remember when humans invaded Warfang? How they fought for Ismeral Nexis? What if there were still some left?"

"Are you implying that they're up to something?"

"It's quite possible."

Relic casually looked back down toward the report on his desk in thought. It does strike him as odd to see humans showing up around the walls, even if they're keeping their distance.

"Right, I want to know what they're up to. The only humans that are to be trusted are the five up in the Tathric Range and no more. But I can't send my guards after them, I need to keep the city's defenses strong."

"What about Spyro?"

"Spyro? No . . . I couldn't. He's already done so much in past for us. I wouldn't want to impose."

"They can always say no," Felenia replied.

"They?"

"Him and Cynder."

"Ah," Relic went in realization. "I nearly forgot about her."

The dark green dragon stood to his feet and began to gaze out the window. Those two would surely be of help in this situation. He didn't want just any dragon of the city to know of what was going on outside the walls after all. It was better if they could live their lives in the city without fear.

"Alright," Relic finally answered. "Can you ask them to be here at noon?"

Felenia nodded. "Of course Relic."

"Thank you Felenia . . . I appreciate it."

"Anytime sir . . . oh and sir."

Relic looked back toward Felenia. "Yes?"

"Just out of curiosity . . . have you heard about the relic fragments?"

"Relic fragments?" he chuckled. "A bit ironic."

"Heehe, yes I suppose it is now that I think about it," Felenia said in an amused tone. "But on a serious note, have you heard anything about them?"

"Relic fragments . . . can't say I have. Is it something I'm supposed to know about? Relic asked, sitting back down in his chair.

"Well," Felenia began, a bit unsure of what she was about to say herself. "It's only myth, but legends say that there are six relic fragments in the hidden somewhere in the land that came from the original six ancient guardians. They were said to hold an unimaginable power, thus were hidden away."

"Hmm," Relic simply went. "What purpose did they hold?"

Felenia frowned. "I'm not sure. It's beyond my knowledge. But they were hidden away for a reason. If they were to be removed from their rightful places . . . I don't know what would happen."

_Meanwhile_

The forest was thick with snow and even thicker with trees. However he was sure of it. What he was searching for was here. A lone human in thick brown clothing made his way across the forest. He had his hood over his head to help keep warm.

He looked ahead to see a structure that was, strangely enough, untouched by snow. Ancient stone formed a small raised platform with several tall columns surrounding it. In the middle was a pedestal with what looked like to be a shard from a stone. The shard itself had an odd green glow to it as the human approached.

"At last," the human lowly said to himself. "I found it . . . the first relic fragment."


End file.
